Life is But a Dream
by Sybilla12
Summary: Steve sat, still numb from seeing the corpse of his friend only moments ago, and looked at his hands again. He wasn't wearing his uniform. He was wearing a white shirt with a pair of grey sweatpants. His hands were still shaking. It had gone on like this for what seemed like ages now. Images projected into Steve's brain, making him see, hear and feel things that weren't real.
1. Chapter 1

Steve looked around in terror, a single drop of cold sweat trickled down his forehead and onto the blood stained concrete beneath him.

There was an unnatural silence that shrouded the street, and for some reason Steve could feel a tight knot in the pit of his stomach. He couldn't remember how he had got here, or what he was doing standing by himself in the middle of this foreign land. Only that he had opened his eyes to find himself amidst a street with ruined buildings, over turned cars and rubble. And blood.

Blood was everywhere.

Steve took a deep breath and looked down at his hands, he was wearing his thick Captain America gloves, but his hands were shaking.

Why were his hands shaking?

He wasn't cold, or hot. In fact he couldn't feel anything... there was no breeze, no smell of blood or smoke or dust.

The soldier took a deep breath and began to walk down the street. He seemed to be in a small town judging by the small, old fashioned stores and the lack of technology.

The place had been seemingly ripped apart by something.

Steve's boots seemed like the only sound for miles, and the thud of each foot step was exemplified by the lack of noise.

Just then, he spotted something crimson in the distance. Not blood, more like metal...

Steve ran over only to stop dead in his tracks. A few metres away an arm armoured in red metal was sticking out of a heap of steel and concrete.

Rogers' heart was beating frantically in his chest as he ran to dig his friend out from beneath the rubble.

Stark's Iron Man suit had been obliterated.

The more Steve dug, the more he found bits and pieces of red and gold armour scattered around the wreckage, innocently glinting like jewels in the setting sun.

"Tony!" Steve yelled hoarsely willing himself to believe that he wasn't too late. "Tony! I'm coming for you buddy, hang on!"

With a great heave, Steve managed to haul off a giant slab of concrete from the hero and tossed it aside.

The Iron Man's mask had been ripped off and Steve was forced to stare at the bloody face of his friend, a giant gash across the play-boy's forehead was oozing blood.

"No, no, Tony! Please!" Steve begged to the limp body of his friend, trying to assess the damage. He tried lifting Stark into an upright position, but when he placed his hand on Tony's chest the captain felt something seriously wrong. Stark's chest felt... hollowed out...

Steve took a deep breath and braced himself as he looked down at the Iron Man's chest.

There was a sick pool of blood, metal, bones and other things Steve couldn't bear to look at.

Letting go of his friends body, the soldier turned to vomit in pile of concrete next to him. After he had emptied whatever contents he had in his stomach, Steve sat and wiped his eyes which were brimming with tears.

Steve felt numb. The only thing his mind kept frantically telling him was that this wasn't happening. This couldn't be happening.

Just then his surroundings started to become blurry and there was a loud zap.

Steve whipped his head around and found himself in a familiar plain white room with no doors and no windows. There was the same single full body mirror hanging from the wall across from him.

The ruined street, the blood, Tony's body... they were all gone.

Steve sat, still numb from seeing the corpse of his friend only moments ago, and looked at his hands again. He wasn't wearing his uniform at all. He was wearing a white shirt with a pair of grey sweatpants.

His hands were still shaking.

It had gone on like this for what seemed like ages now. Images were projected into Steve's brain, making him see, hear and feel things that weren't really there.

There was a temporary amnesia that came along with each projection that was necessary in order to make Steve forget the difference between reality and illusion. But Steve was getting better at recognizing the signs between the two worlds now.

Unfortunately, his revelations always came too late, right after he would see or do something that scarred him.

Something that didn't go away even when he was brought back to reality. Things that would make him wake up in the middle of his sleep screaming and drenched with sweat.

There was no amnesia after the projection wore off... nothing to dull the memories that seemed so real.

There was very little left to Steve's sanity at this point. He had seen every single one of his friends murdered in the most brutal ways possible over and over again. Sometimes he saw Peggy, and the two would dance until Steve held her close and felt her turn to ash in his arms. But the person he saw every single day since his capture, the person he saw tortured and killed and drowned over and over and over again was the girl who he had fallen in love in the past few months.

It was torture for Steve to see her hurt and scream and writhe in pain, and even worse when Steve was the one doing those things to her. He tried so hard to stop himself, but he didn't have control over his own body.

Steve put his hands in his head and felt tears streaming down his face.

"What do you want from me!" Steve cried desperately as he punched the spotless white wall he was curled up against.

As if in answer, the room began to blur and Steve began to panic. It was happening. Another projection.

"No!" Steve screamed desperately as his surroundings began to change. He hadn't had a projection of her yet today... "No, please!"

Steve opened his eyes and found himself in a bed with a pretty girl, her brown hair was short, sprawled out in an array of curls across the white pillow beside him. Her warm brown eyes looked up at the soldier lovingly and she began to caress his cheek with her fingers.

Rogers smiled back and took her into his arms. She was the most important thing in his life now and he couldn't have been happier to be here with her. Even if he didn't remember how he had ended up in bed with her in the first place.

Just then Steve felt his fingers wrap around the girl's frail neck.

Steve felt his heart drop. What was he doing?

He felt his fingers beginning to tighten, and the nightmare began.

Hello all! I would like to start of by saying that this is going to be a fan fic that has a bit of everything in it and chose an M rating due to some of the gruesome scenes and language. Reviews and PM's would be lovely! And of course I do not own any of Marvel or Disney's characters, and/or anything to do with the Avengers. I am merely a lowly writer with a bunch of ideas swirling about in my head. :)


	2. Chapter 2

**Okay, so just to clear some things up, the last chapter was a snippet taken from the middle of the story. The story is now being told in the Captain's point of view and is a recollection of everything that happens before the Steve's capture. So sit back, relax and keep wondering how Steve got his ass locked up in the first place! :D Oh, and the italicized writing in the middle of the chapter = flashback!**

"Hey old balls, get your ass in gear!"

Tony Stark, self absorbed billionaire, looked over the shoulder of his overpriced leather jacket and tilted his sunglasses down a fraction of an inch to look at Steve. The play-boy's brown eyes were bright in the midday sunlight, his lips curled into a smug smile, as his head bobbed back and forth to the hard core rock that was blaring from his speakers.

His gleaming red corvette began to purr and Steve rolled his crystal blue eyes from behind his helmet.

A wide grin crept up on Tony's handsome face, revealing a set of immaculate teeth, as he eyeballed the old motorbike Rogers was perched upon with distaste.

By now, Steve was used to a range of odd looks directed towards him when riding his bike around the city. To anyone who wasn't a motorcycle fanatic, the bike looked like an out dated piece of junk. And Steve was more than okay with that.

He didn't want shiny new, expensive cars like the ones Tony owned. Rogers wanted a vehicle that made him feel comfortable, and that provided him with a certain sense of nostalgia.

But sometimes nostalgia made Steve feel old.

Unnaturally old.

There were _a lot_ of times when Steve was made aware of just how out of place he was, like when he would talk about a restaurant as if he had been there yesterday, only to find out it had been demolished over 70 years ago. Or like when S.H.I.E.L.D had handed him his very first cellular phone.

At first Steve thought it to be some kind of high-tech grenade, until director Fury had to explain to him what the tiny device was.

Technology for the most part was absolutely baffling for Steve, it took him over a two months to figure out how to properly use his mobile phone, and almost twice as long to realize what the internet was. Operating a computer was still something he had to work on.

Steve felt hopelessly lost when he looked around at all the changes in the world since he had gone under. Sometimes he wished that he hadn't survived that crash.

For all that the soldier had, he felt as though he was missing something crucial. But he didn't know what that was.

A deep frown had etched itself onto the soldier's immaculate face and he looked off into the distance, not really staring at anything.

"Hey, Alzheimer's!" Tony's loud, commanding voice broke Steve's trance and the war veteran flicked his eyes back to Stark.  
The egotistical man-boy was about to say something when Dr. Bruce Banner leaned over in the passenger's seat and cranked the volume up on the high tech stereo system, so whatever Tony had said was drowned out by a loud, chest rumbling guitar solo.

Tony looked back at Bruce, the corners of his mouth tugging down in an irritated scowl. Bruce simply shrugged and gave an innocent smile before turning to look out the side of the roofless vehicle.

Steve couldn't help but smirk.

The street light finally turned green and the corvette disappeared in a loud streak of red.

Rogers smiled and continued to go at his own pace.

He looked after the disappearing red dot and shook his head in mystification. He just didn't understand how Bruce and Tony got along so well.

Banner was quiet, gentle, modest and calm. Steve wondered sometimes if his personality was just a by-product of his condition, but even so Bruce preferred to fly under the radar, rarely took credit for anything he did and tried to avoid large crowds.

And then there was Tony Stark.

Rogers had learned a lot about Tony in the past couple of days. Tony liked sushi, spent money like it grew on trees and had a thing for some cartoon show about three genetically enhanced little girls that fought crime; Steve was quite sure not many people knew about that last part.

Stark was the biggest "attention whore" (a term he had first heard Natasha use to describe Tony) he had ever met in his life. He simply needed to be the centre of attention all day, every day.

But despite his brash, sometimes annoying personality, he wasn't all that bad. And when his ego wasn't busy crushing every ounce of sincerity he had, Steven could even probably say that he liked him.

But Steve wasn't following the two to hang out. Bruce and Tony were headed to Stark Tower to check out the arc reactor technology.  
Steve was headed there too, however only because he had left his wallet there.

He would have gladly left the tattered brown flap of leather with Stark; it wasn't the single crumpled twenty dollar bill he had in there that was willing him to drive all the way back to Stark Tower. And it sure wasn't the humiliating photo identification card he had in there either.

There was something in there that was more valuable to him than anything he owned, and it was that which he couldn't stand the thought of losing.

Something that he couldn't stand losing but ironically enough, had already lost forever.

Suddenly, as though a faucet had been turned on from somewhere behind his sockets, Steve's crystal blue eyes began to water uncontrollably. His long, blonde lashes clumped together as his eyes began to brim with tears. He tried to fight back the tightening pain in his chest with everything that he was worth. This wasn't like getting punched, or kicked or stabbed. This pain was so much worse. It started deep in his stomach, then spread through his veins and into his heart and limbs like poison.  
Steve felt a single tear escape the watery confines of his eyes and roll down his cheek. Clenching his teeth, he tried to swallow back the bitter memory of a woman he once knew.

A woman he once loved.

_Not now. Think of anything... anyone but her._

Just then, as though the prayers to his thoughts were somehow heard, his mobile phone began to ring loudly.

Steve took a deep sigh, sniffled, and then cleared his throat before pulling the tiny black device from his pocket.

He answered without even looking at the caller display, too thankful for a distraction to care who it was.

"Hello?"

"Old balls," Tony's voice could barely be heard over his blaring music in the background as he continued, "Okay first, you should really answer your text messages. It's really rude, especially someone who's supposedly such a gentlema-"

"Get to the point, Stark." Steve was still sniffling and trying hard not to sound like he had just been crying.

"Easy princess, me and Bruce stopped for some coffee in a part of town that wasn't completely blown to hell, want anything?"

"No thanks."

"Come on Sunshine, don't be like that," Tony's voice sounded genuinely sincere, but Steve knew him better than that. He could practically see Stark's gleaming white teeth as he grinned from ear to ear waiting for Steve to snap at him.

Instead, the super soldier rolled his eyes and accepted defeat.

"Large hot chocolate." Rogers snapped his cell phone shut before Tony had a chance to say another word.

Sitting at another red light now, Steve took a look at his phone and was surprised to see the amount of notifications on his phone.

_9 New Messages_

Steve sighed, knowing exactly who they were from, and quickly checked the lights to make sure he had enough time to read what he liked to call his "electro-letters." Everyone else called them texts, which was just stupid in Steve's opinion.  
He flicked open his phone and finally managed to hit the "read" button with his enormous riding gloves.

_**From: **__Tony __(Mobile)_  
_Received 6 minutes ago._  
_**Message: **__Does wrinkle dink want some coffee?_

Steve rolled his eyes and scrolled down, ignoring the rest of the messages from Tony. He was about to flip his phone shut when his eyes landed on a name that didn't belong to the obnoxious play-boy.

_**From: **__Clint (Mobile)_  
_Received 3 minutes ago._  
_**Message:**_  
_Hey, thanks again for being the D.D last night._

Steve's feathery eyebrows were knit together in confusion. He was contemplating on how to reply but the street light turned green and he snapped the phone shut and put it back in his pocket.

_What the hell was a D.D?_

He would respond when he got to Stark Tower, he wasn't too far from there now. It was nice of Agent Barton to thank him anyway.

Even if he didn't know what for.

The "text" from Clint reminded him of last night's events.

The handsome soldier shook his head in recollection.

Apparently going out for chicken shawarma to celebrate saving the world was the most painfully awkward ordeal Steve had ever been a part of.

_Rogers was the first to arrive at the rickety old restaurant at the edge of the city. The small building was a faded green, paint chipping away all across the wooden surface. A sign that had been nailed into the building read "The Sultan's Savoury." Steve pulled off his Captain America helmet and gingerly hopped off his bike, careful not to bruise his family jewels. Super Soldier or not, it still hurt like hell to get hit in the balls. _

_Rusty, flickering neon letters in the window read "...me in, we're Open!" _

_Steve turned just in time to see Agent Barton wheel in to the tiny parking lot and smoothly park the vehicle close to where he was standing. _

_Agent Romanoff gracefully hopped out of the passenger's seat and stood idly by the door while Agent Barton made his way towards Steve._

"_Captain," Clint walked up to Steve and clapped him on the shoulder before turning to say something to Natasha, who wasn't behind him. Steve pointed behind Clint at Agent Romanoff who was perched on the hood of Tony's multi-million dollar car, and subsequently using the front bumper as a footrest. _

_She seemed oblivious to the two men staring at her and oblivious to her surroundings, eyes gazing far off into the distance, scarlet curls blowing gently in the breeze. Her Black Widow uniform was dirty and covered in Chitauri blood. Not a good thing when you happened to be sitting on an expensive white car..._

_Clint and Steve stood awkwardly in front of the restaurant, Clint occasionally looking up to stare at Natasha and then run his hands through his grimy, blood matted hair._

_After what seemed like eons, Tony, Bruce and Thor arrived. Tony nearly had an aneurism when he saw Natasha. _

_After making sure that there were no dents, scratches, stains or scuffs on his car, the team made their way into the tiny restaurant. Thor barely fit through the door._

_A balding Arab man with a warm smile and sweaty armpits looked up as they entered the restaurant and Steve thought his eyes were going to pop out of his skull for a second before he regained his composure. _

_Steve chuckled under his breath, they must look like a travelling circus. Only Tony and Bruce appeared "normal". If you counted the bright blue light in the middle of Tony's chest as normal. _

"_You all," the small man said in a surprisingly deep and commanding voice as he gestured towards the group of rag tag super heroes, "there."_

_He pointed the team to a small round table and watched over them as they all took their seats. After everyone had ordered their drinks and shawarma, the awkward ordeal began. _

___Surprisingly, no one really had much to say. Just because they fought great together, didn't necessarily mean that they bonded as friends. It was that, or no one had much to say due to the fact that they had all nearly died and had just witnessed the destruction of an entire metropolitan area.___

_Whatever the case, there was the occasional joke from Tony, but even the scientific banter between him and Bruce was absent. __  
__Steve sat there with his face in his hand, looking up every five minutes to acknowledge Thor who always cleared his throat like he was about to say something to break the uneasy silence, only to look down at his food and start eating again.___

_Then there was Clint and Natasha who sat angled toward each other at the small round table. Instead of talking __out loud__ like any other person with manners, Clint would pull out his phone, type something in and seconds later, Natasha's device would go off and she would have to stifle a fit of laughter while reading the text. __  
__It was quite unnerving to see Agent Romanoff laugh. She was beautiful, but in a predatory kind of way, and to see her carefree and smiling was actually kind of... disturbing. __  
_

_Watching the two had made Steve uncomfortable so he kept his attention on trying to ignore Tony's overly loud and incredibly obnoxious chewing. Other than that, the team ate in a tense silence.___

_Thankfully the food was alright, but Steve wasn't quite happy with what it seemed to be doing to his stomach. Accelerated metabolism or not, he still had to face the consequences of bad gas. ___

_After everyone had cleared their plates, and just as they were about to leave, Bruce surprised everyone and suggested that they all go for a few drinks down at a small pub he knew.___

_If it had been anyone else who had asked, the answer would have been a flat out "No." But since the doctor was just such a nice guy, Steve felt like it would be rude to decline. Rogers shrugged and said he was in. __  
__Clint and Natasha seemed to share the same thoughts as Steve because their agreements were reluctant and their smiles forced._

_Tony of course was all in, he gave a loud "WOOT!" and proceeded to chant "shit faced (whatever the hell that meant, Steve definitely did not want to be a part of it)," until Thor spoke. ___

_The god of thunder thought it best for him to keep an eye on his little brother until morning, before the two left for home. Loki was being held at a mobile base S.H.I.E.L.D had set up, and this time they weren't taking any risks. __  
__Loki was knocked out cold; there was only so much sleeping drugs one could handle...even if you were a "god."___

_Steve had to give it to Thor as an older sibling though, even after all that Loki had done, the Asgardian still referred to the villain as his little brother._

_Steve hopped onto his motorbike and tugged his riding gloves back on. It was dark out now and the air was cold, the little parking lot of the Sultans Savoury was lit by a couple of street lamps._

_Bruce had given them all directions and as Steve didn't really know where the place was, he agreed to follow Clint and Natasha to the pub._

___The drive there was relaxing and quite, and as the three pulled up to the small, shabby looking pub called the Sparrow's Nest and Steve was surprised to see that there was nearly no room in the parking lot. He had expected the pub to have one or two patrons at most due to the morning's events, but apparently people here liked their booze. Especially when half their city had been razed to the ground. ___

_Steve saw another car pull into a parking space nearby and watched as a tall man with ginger hair stepped out, he was wearing a form fitting black t-shirt and blue jeans. He walked by Rogers and snickered as he gave the soldier a condescending smirk. __  
_

_Steve frowned and looked down; he had forgotten about his uniform.___

_Unfortunately there were no clothing stores nearby, so the soldier decided to improvise. He took off everything but his tight blue shirt he wore underneath his Captain America ensemble, his very tight fitting pants and his boots. He draped the rest of his uniform over the seat of his motorbike._

_Steve was about to try and see how ridiculous he looked in his all blue outfit in one of his sideview mirrors, when Natasha walked up beside him. _

"_You look great, Cap." Romanoff said in a platonic voice as she waited for Barton to make his way out of the car. __  
__Steve looked over at her and was relieved to see the two S.H.I.E.L.D agents looking pretty much as ridiculous as he did. __  
_

_Natasha was still in her form fitting Black Widow outfit, and Clint had merely left his bow and arrows in the car, making the two look like assassins from a James Bond movie. __  
_

_Just then Banner and Tony arrived._

_Bruce hobbled out of the car, looking like a homeless person, with tattered pants that were too big for him and a filthy checkered shirt. Steve couldn't remember if it was the same one he had been wearing at the restaurant or not. __  
_

_Tony was the only one who didn't seem as though he had just come back from a convention of freaks. Again, only if you ignored the bright blue miniaturized arc reactor that shone through his black shirt, right in the middle of his chest.___

_Steve was prepared for more of the same, awkward silence that they had endured at the restaurant as the team made their way through the entrance, but as soon as they stepped foot inside the pub, the mood suddenly became hysterical. And not in a good way.___

_Most of it had to do with the fact that they had spent less than an hour in the dingy pub before Clint was about to become violent with the next owner of a penis who so much as tried to look at Natasha. The two were sitting at the bar now, facing each other. From where Steve was sitting he could see Natasha's face, which looked slightly amused, and the back of Agent Barton's head. Rogers couldn't see Clint's expression, but by the way the agent's fist was clenched around the handle of his ale, it didn't take much to assume that he was pretty angry. _

_And then there was poor Bruce; trying to keep Tony, who had vodka coming out his ears at this point, off the table tops. ___

_Steve couldn't help but laugh at the team of superheroes. Only this morning they had saved the entire planet from an alien invasion and tonight they were sitting in a pub; one of them trying extremely hard not to go to jail for assault, and another who had become a baby sitter to forty-something year old billionaire.___

_Steve was sitting in a corner by himself, lost in his own little world, tracing circles of melted ice from his glass of cranberry juice around on the wooden table in front of him until a young woman came sauntering up to where the soldier was sitting. _

_The lady had bright red lipstick and platinum blonde hair. She was dressed extremely inappropriately and Steve couldn't help but grimace at her. Her face was kind of pretty, but Steve gave an internal sigh, he __**really**__ preferred Brunettes._

"_You gonna buy me a drink, or what?" The girl was standing a few feet away from Steve but even at that distance, the soldier was trying desperately not to gag at her rancid breath. After regaining his composure Steve politely shook his head. _

_The girl muttered something and walked off, moving on to her next target. Steve rolled his eyes and went back to trying to spot his team mates, when as if on cue, Natasha came up. _

_Steve looked at her and saw that her round mouth was set it a firm line.___

_When he gave her a quizzical look, she extended an arm to point at Tony. He was standing on one of the tables, screaming at the top of his lungs, asking if everyone could see his right ass cheek as he couldn't feel it anymore._

_He was in the process of pulling his pants down when__Steve ran and flung Tony over his shoulder like a sack of potatoes. _

_Just to make things even worse, a sickening crunch of bone over to his left made Steve turn just in time to see Natasha standing over the unconscious form of a man nearly three times her size, her beautiful face stoic and her left hand balled into a fist. ___

_The music suddenly stopped and everyone froze and stared. _

_Clint walked towards her with a smug smile on his broad, ruggedly handsome face and latched onto her arm, then turned around and yelled to no one in particular "Carry on," before he pulled her towards the back exit of the pub. Steve beckoned to Bruce and the three of them slipped out after their other team mates.___

_Determining that he was the only one sane enough to drive, Steve told them all to get into Tony's car._

_He would make sure they all got to their destinations safely. Natasha agreed and said that Happy would bring the others their vehicles in the morning. _

_Steve put Stark down and tried to get the drunk super hero into the car when Tony turned around to face Rogers. Tony's light brown eyes went wide and his face went blank for a second. Steve thought he was going to faint so he made a move to grab the billionaire when Stark let out a loud belch and began laughing hysterically before his eyes went cross and he face planted into Steve's chest._  
_

Steve snapped out of his reverie just as he reached the towering expanse of steel and glass that was Stark Tower.

He was going to get in, grab his wallet and run out. There would be no "hanging out" to drink coffee or tea or whatever. Steve was determined to get the hell away from here as fast as he could. He wasn't entirely sure where he wanted to go, just as long as it was far away from the wrecked wasteland that was a bustling city full of life and happiness only 48 hours ago.

Parking right near the main entrance to Stark Tower, Steve took his helmet and riding gloves off and ran a hand through his thick, blonde hair. It was a bit damp from sweat, but nothing that needed immediate showering. He took a look around and tried not to take in the destruction that surrounded him, he focused all of his energy on trying to locate Tony's obnoxious red corvette.

After a few minutes of listening to nothing but the thrumming of his own heart, Steve remembered the messages on his phone and the reply he had yet to give Clint.

Rogers pulled his phone out from his jacket again and flipped it open, sighing before going through the plethora of electro-letters from Stark.

_**From:**__Tony __(__Mobile__)__Received 1:27P __**Message: **__ Steve, I'm asking if you want coffee. I'm trying to be a good guy here._

_**From: **__Tony __(Mobile)__Received 1:27P__**Message: **__ ...Steven_

_**From: **__Tony __(Mobile)__Received 1:28P__**Message:**__ Earth to Captain Jackass, do you copy?_

_**From: **__Tony __(Mobile)__Received 1:29P__**Message:**__ Don't you make me call you._

_**From: **__Tony __(Mobile)__Received 1:29P__**Message:**__ I can't believe you're gonna make me call you._

_**From: **__Tony __(Mobile) __Received 1:30P __**Message:**__Ass HOLE!1  
_

_**From: **__Tony __(Mobile)__Received 1:31P__**Message:**__ Ignore that 1..._

Steve shook his head again, selecting the messages from Stark and hitting "delete all" from the little menu. Now that those were gone, he still had to reply to Clint.

Rogers tried to think of what D.D stood for. And after coming up with "Dead Duck" as a possible meaning, Steve figured that he had exhausted his creativity function for the day. He simply wrote back:

_No problem, Clint._

And hit send before flipping his mobile device shut and stuffing it in his pocket again.

After what felt like fifteen minutes of Steve waiting in front of Stark Tower straddling his motorbike, the loud blaring rock that could only signify Tony's arrival could be heard getting closer to where the Captain was waiting.

Steve sighed and shook his head in disapproval as he began to unzip his leather jacket.

_**SCREECH!**_

Steve jerked his head back just in time to watch Tony swerve towards him and take a sharp left before cutting the engine.

He was literally parked in the middle of the street. Not that it mattered since there were no cars, but it ticked Steve off.

"Are you effing kidding me, Tony?" Bruce's oath rang loud and clear through the deserted streets.

"Hey, at least it wasn't on the seats" Tony's head popped out of the driver's seat and he adjusted his sunglasses before slamming the door behind him.

"That was boiling hot co-"

"Thats what cup holders are for! I told you to use the cup holders. I told him to use the cup holders." Tony said to Steve now as he made his way towards the soldier with two cups, one was transparent and filled with bright red liquid and ice. He brandished the colourful drink at Steve who only stared quizzically at the beverage, his eyebrows knitting together as he examined the foreign drink.

"Oh right," Tony said suddenly, "No hot chocolate, I mean come on, what are you twelve? I thought I'd liven things up for you." Tony's arm was still extended with the cup in hand, waiting for Steve to reach over and take it.

Steve frowned again and tentatively plucked the cold drink from Stark's hand.

"Thanks," Rogers said slowly still examining the beverage.

"Would you just drink the damn thing already," Tony barked, "You're making it seem like I just offered you a cup of piss."

Bruce came up behind Tony and nodded at the soldier, Steve's eyes flicked to the doctor as he was about greet him, but he stopped short and instead had to bite his lip to keep from laughing. Banner had spilt something right on his lap and the liquid had spread through the fabric of his pants, making it seem as though the genius had just wet himself.

"I know," Banner said with a big sigh as he gestured towards his crotch, "Let's not make a big thing out of this."

"Well, I for one promise never to mention this again," Tony exclaimed as he pulled out his phone and with lightning speed, snapped a picture of a less than happy Bruce before continuing, "Riiiight after I get something to immortalize this moment forever."

Banner sighed in defeat and took a sip of his half spilt beverage before making his way through the entrance of Stark Tower.

Tony followed after him, dubbing Banner "the Tinkle King of New York."

Steve smiled and hopped off his bike, putting his kickstand in place and leaving his gloves and his helmet on his seat. He still had yet to take a sip of the drink Tony had bought him, so he took a quick slurp from the bright green straw before following Stark's loud voice into the building.

Rogers was surprised at the beverage, it was refreshing and had just the right amount of sweetness to balance out some of the tart flavour.

It took only 30 seconds or so for Steve to find the two waiting for an elevator, but in that time Rogers had already finished half of his drink.

"You sure those things are still working?" Steve asked sceptically, nodding his head towards the elevators.

"Steven, please." Stark pompously dismissed the super soldier, and just as though Tony had summoned the machine, the elevator gave a _**BING **_and the steel doors opened.

"Ladies first," Tony said acknowledging Steve, then turning to Bruce he said "or maybe it should be those who've lost control over their bodily functions that go first."

Bruce simply smiled and walked into the elevator.

"On second thought, Bruce maybe you should take the stairs, I don't want you to crap all over the floor in here. The marble was imported from Italy."

Steve took another long draught of his drink and stepped into the steel compartment as well, Tony following right behind him.

Tony punched a button on the side of the elevator and the doors closed, trapping the three men inside a small metal room.

Steve suddenly looked over at Bruce, hoping that the doctor wasn't claustrophobic because if he hulked out in here, he and Tony were as good as dead.

But Banner seemed oblivious to being inside the tiny moving cage, he simply laid his head back against the marble interior of the elevator and took a sip of his drink.

Rogers looked down at his own drink and rattled the ice around in an effort to free some pockets of the trapped red liquid. Steve took another long sip and was finished before he knew it.

The rest of the ride up was dominated by Bruce and Tony arguing, Steve had stopped listening a long time ago and had now moved himself right in front of the doors so as soon as they opened he could grab his wallet and get out.

Finally, just before Steve was about to punch Tony in the mouth if he said the word "hence" one more time, the elevator gave a _**BING**_ and the doors opened wide into the wrecked living room of Tony Stark.

Steve lunged out of the metal cage and rounded into the entertainment room when he stopped dead in his tracks.

Standing in front of one of the televisions, hands crossed across his chest and clad in black attire, stood Director Nick Fury.

Steve didn't know what Fury was doing here, but it definitely wasn't going to be good.


End file.
